The process of learning many languages is known as multilingualism, and it has many benefits including increased employment opportunities, to changing individual view towards other people. The benefits of learning a second language have been seen as being well worth time, but it has never been clear to the majority of people including students which is the most important second language to learn especially if you are in the United States. Although English is considered a valuable language, students or individuals who want to take a second language can consider other appealing options. Therefore, this paper will focus on four languages that are worth studying including Mandarin, German, Arabic, and Japanese.
Mandarin
A few years ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg attracted major attention when he indicated that he was learning the Mandarin language. Learning Mandarin offer learners many benefits to professional and personal growth where it offers learners with an opportunity to learn one of the richest cultures in the world. Currently, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, with statistics showing that more than 1,197,000,000 speak Chinese while in this population, about 50% speak Mandarin (Larsen-Freeman, & Long, 2014). Some of the countries that speak Mandarin include Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Mongolia, which are increasing rising into higher global business levels hence creating major benefit for students who may be able to pursue the language. Also, learning Mandarin is a major way of learning the history and culture of Chinese people, and opportunity to enjoying their growing literature including novels, films, short stories, and poetry which are taking over the global literature industry. Lastly, China is currently the greatest business market in the world hence, it is important to understand the Mandarin language for ease in conducting business with the Chinese people. While commenting on the importance of learning Mandarin, Jennifer Ugwu said. “What happens when we, as Western professionals doing business in China and with Chinese, step out of that line of thinking and make genuine efforts to understand the language, the culture, and the business environment of our Chinese counterparts? Almost without exception, they are unbelievably appreciative of those efforts” (Ortega, 2014).
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Arabic
Arabic is the primary language for over 20 countries, with the language being the fifth most spoken language in the world. Currently, more than 300 million people are speaking Arabic, with the language increasingly becoming official language for world largest organizations including United Nations, The Arab League, the African Union, and the Organization of Islamic Conference among others (Kondo-Brown, & Brown, 2017). Currently, the United States workers who have skills in the Arabic language are in high demand due to various businesses being conducted by the US companies in the Middle East. Another reasons as to why it is worth learning Arabic as a second language is today, relatively very few people in united states and other western countries who are interested in learning Arabic. With the growing interest of Middle East in the global business affairs, it is important to consider the language because of the high demand of workers who have great knowledge in both western and Middle East culture and traditions which are essential when conducting businesses in the region.
German
Today, the greatest German-speaking countries are major economic powers in the European economy including Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Due to the large numbers of native speakers of the German language in Europe, the language is currently becoming the most widely used language in the region. There are major benefits associated with learning German as a secondary language. According to Ortega (2014), Germany is not just the largest exporter of goods in the world, but it the greatest trading partner with the united states in Europe, hence whenever a transaction is being done, the trading partners will need an individual to help in communication. Therefore, for students who are looking for a language to study, German will offer them major opportunities in the work industry. Also, German is growing to be an important academic language where the majority of scientific researchers are being conducted in German hence becoming an important scientific language. According to a report by the Goethe-Institute New York, the German language is the “the ticket to a successful scientific and scholarly exchange.” Also, internet searching is becoming easier when done in German because it is the second most used language on the internet.
Japanese
In their research, Kondo-Brown& Brown (2017) said that it is important to learn Japanese because, “The people are known for making things smaller, faster, and first, Japan was until recently the second-largest economy in the world (it’s now third, behind the US and China).” The current economic strength in the region is based on effectiveness in research and development industry, which has resulted to development of some of the most successful global brands such as Toyota, Canon, Nissan, Panasonic, and Sony. With automation and robotics being one of the focuses for every industry today, studying Japanese as the secondary language offer students and individual interested in the industry an opportunity to understand these technologies where most of the researchers conducted on this field are presented in Japanese. Larsen-Freeman, & Long (2014) indicated that “Japan’s love for robots is rooted deep in the country’s history and beliefs.” Therefore, being able to read Japanese may be important in increasing literacy on the field of robotics and automation which is believed to be the future of the business world.
From the research, we can conclude that learning a different language may be difficult, but some that are easier to learn than others are. However, for those who have made the decision to study a secondary language, they can proudly speak to unquantifiable benefits they have gained from doing it. Additionally, it is important to understand that although having goals is essential in ensuring success in learning a second language, it is important to have a desire and drive to gain the fluency needed in each language.
References
Kondo-Brown, K., & Brown, J. D. (Eds.). (2017). Teaching Chinese, Japanese, and Korean heritage language students: Curriculum needs, materials, and assessment . Abingdon: Routledge.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Long, M. H. (2014). An introduction to second language acquisition research . Abingdon: Routledge.
Ortega, L. (2014). Understanding second language acquisition . Abingdon: Routledge.
Ugwu, J. (2014). Learn Chinese for Business: If Mark Zuckerberg Is Doing It, Maybe You Should, Too ! Fluentu. Retrieved from https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/2014/11/12/learn-mandarin-chinese-business/
